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What do you wear when traveling by plane?

May 5th, 2019, 11:58 PM

Lately I have been doing a lot of work related travel. I tend to dress well, wearing work related clothes. My thinking is just because I'm going to be trapped on a plane for X number of hours, that's not reason to dress down.

My wife though, was leaving for a business trip this weekend. Her attitude is the opposite. She opts for comfort as opposed to dressing up. This assumes being dressed up equates to being uncomfortable, but that's a topic for another post.

But her attitude does raise an interesting question. How do you dress when you know you'll be on a plane for business purposes? I say business purposes because if you're flying to Maui for a week, I wouldn't expect you to say you're wearing a three-piece suit.

I typically wear a blazer or jacket, for all the pockets and the ease of removing it without having to pull it over my head. Never had an issue laying it on top of my stowed carry-on, or in a pinch on my briefcase under the seat in front.

If I'm travelling for business I usually wear a suit. Suits get wrinkled in a carry-on, so wearing one saves trying to remove wrinkles from a packed jacket. A three-piece is useful here since it looks better sans jacket, and it hides all the shirt wrinkles acquired on the plane.

Travelling for pleasure I'm in jeans or wool trousers (no chinos, they don't breathe and look horrible upon exit), a button-up such as an OCBD or non-iron dress shirt, and a presentable T-shirt underneath in case the plane gets overheated.

Shoes are either dress oxfords or bucks. Taking a moment to tie or untie doesn't bother me, and laces allow loosening when your feet swell due to immobility and low cabin pressure.

Wool socks. I don't bother with compression socks, preferring to get up and walk or at least pedal while sitting to keep blood moving.

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Depends if I am off the plane and into an event or into the hotel first. If off the plane it's a variation of work with trousers, button down, but if I have a packed bag I put my jacket into it so it doesn't get messed up.

If hotel first, then it's a level of comfort. Jeans (as usually planes are freezing), t-shirt, hoodie, or usually a zip up north face vest as it makes it easy to hold all the different items. Planes have become so uncomfortable and cramped lately, I don't want anything to happen or spill on my nicer clothes.

I do think in general though society has taken flying down a lot of levels. I get comfortable if a 6+ hour flight but I've really only worn sweats on a plane once because I had run out of other items and it was freezing.

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Comfortable, reasonably presentable clothing together with easily removed shoes (chukkas, for example). I wouldn't dream of wearing some of the garbage I've seen others get on planes wearing, but I also won't dress up to get on a plane. Last time I flew, I wore a pair of comfortable dark wash jeans, a fitted henley, and a pair of clarks desert boots.

I don't know about you guys, but my feet tend to get knocked around while traveling. That means I don't want nice shoes on. Hence the clarks. I cringe if a bang around a pair of $500 shoes. A pair of throwaway Clark's? Who cares. Those exist in my closet TO get beat up, so my nice shoes don't have to.

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I dress for the destination. I am almost always flying somewhere warm so I opt for lightweight chinos, a tank top, and a madras shirt. A true madras out of lighter materials, not just a button up with a "madras" pattern. Somtiems I tuck the harrington jacket into my backpack. This lets me be a little covered for the sometimes chilly airplane, but light and breezy for the destination. For footwear, I wear slip ons and shoe liners. My airport makes me take off my shoes and I hate having to take a bunch of time after security to get ready and I also dont want to stand barefoot on the airport floor. So boat shoes or some canvas shoes.

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When I travel for work, I almost always have to wear suit/tie during the day. Because I like to pack light, on the plane I wear whatever my primary (after work hours) casual pieces for the week will be. I unpack when I get to the hotel, and my suits are almost always good to go the next morning when I head to the office. The shirts are generally a bit more wrinkled in the arms, but my jacket hides that. Since I am almost always cold in office buildings, I tend to keep on my suit jackets during the day.

Of course, sometimes I will need to fly in and go straight to the office. On those days, I wear my suit - complete with tie - during the flight. My second suit and casual pieces are in the bag.

No one asked, but this is my travel bag. I am generally out of town for the entire work week (Sunday afternoon flight out, Friday afternoon flight home). People love this bag. I get compliments on it all the time.

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Assuming I don't have to go straight to the office, I have a couple of outfits to choose from. It's ether Lululemon ABC pants in either tan or charcoal with a 4-way stretch long sleeve button up, or Rhone Commuter pants in stone with a Mack Weldon long sleeve Vesper. I like to travel in pants and shirts that look sharp but still stretch quite a bit (hate traveling in denim) and I prefer long sleeves that I can roll up. I top it with one of two vests - a Rhone Microclimate or a lightweight Patagonia. For shoes, I almost always wear grey Allbirds on top of Bombas heather grey crews.

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I always wear a sportscoat (I like having all the pockets and being a little better dressed than masses). If its warm and trip is more casual then Gap linen, cooler casual its a Gap cotton, cooler and more formal I have the S&M Hopsack wool. Warm trip I wear a polo under the jacket, otherwise long sleeve. Pants are mostly lightweight chinos.

I do not own any of the tech or Core Temp pants but I have been tempted to get some for travel. They seem like a good option and now [MENTION=20690]JohnR[/MENTION] convinced me to give them a try.

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When I travel for work, I almost always have to wear suit/tie during the day. Because I like to pack light, on the plane I wear whatever my primary (after work hours) casual pieces for the week will be. I unpack when I get to the hotel, and my suits are almost always good to go the next morning when I head to the office. The shirts are generally a bit more wrinkled in the arms, but my jacket hides that. Since I am almost always cold in office buildings, I tend to keep on my suit jackets during the day.

Of course, sometimes I will need to fly in and go straight to the office. On those days, I wear my suit - complete with tie - during the flight. My second suit and casual pieces are in the bag.

No one asked, but this is my travel bag. I am generally out of town for the entire work week (Sunday afternoon flight out, Friday afternoon flight home). People love this bag. I get compliments on it all the time.

I finally switched to using my roller bag for every trip except one night trips (I have a Kelty lightweight duffle I use then). Carrying a duffle with more than 1 pair of shoes and one days of clothes and then having my laptop bag on the other shoulder just got to be too much. But man that is good looking bag.

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I don't have any work related travel (retired) but I have had a lot of leisure travel lately.

I like to be well dressed but more on the casual end of the spectrum since I don't have to worry about going into the office.

Dark wash jeans, OCBD shirt with a sweater in the colder months or a short sleeve henley for warmer weather. Some type of jacket whether it's a light weight field jacket or a cotton blazer. I like having the pockets.

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I do not own any of the tech or Core Temp pants but I have been tempted to get some for travel. They seem like a good option and now [MENTION=20690]JohnR[/MENTION] convinced me to give them a try.

On my last business trip I wore the Uniqlo Kando pants, thinking a light weight pant would be good. I think for the most part the pants hit the mark. Business looking enough, yet light enough for travel. If the Core Temp pants are along the same line, they might be a good bet.

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When I travel for work, I almost always have to wear suit/tie during the day. Because I like to pack light, on the plane I wear whatever my primary (after work hours) casual pieces for the week will be. I unpack when I get to the hotel, and my suits are almost always good to go the next morning when I head to the office. The shirts are generally a bit more wrinkled in the arms, but my jacket hides that. Since I am almost always cold in office buildings, I tend to keep on my suit jackets during the day.

As of last year, the Core Temp chinos are typically my casual pants for the week. They are lightweight, stretchy, resist wrinkling and if it ever became necessary, I could easily wash them in the hotel room and they would dry very quickly. A good second, more casual choice would be the Prana Brion pant. All of the characteristics of the Cor Temp that I mentioned, only in a jean style. The Prana Brion have no natural fibers.